Owls turn tied game into runaway 44-31

WEATHERFORD — A tied game quickly turned into a runaway for Elgin as the Owls outscored Lawton Ike 16-3 in the third quarter and advanced to the consolation championship in the Weatherford Classic.

Friday’s 44-31 win improved Elgin’s record to 5-4 as the Owls are set to play Piedmont at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Piedmont is ranked No. 8 in Class 5A.

The Elgin-Lawton Ike game was tied 17-17 at halftime, but that changed when Jaylen Nettles, Christian Reed and Denton Glover went into action. Nettles, a point guard, scored eight of Elgin’s 16 third quarter points.

“In that quarter, we focused on blocking out and getting some rebounds and executed some sets and we got into that 1-2-2 with Jaylen out on top and that was forcing them into some quick shots,” Elgin head coach Ryan Green said.

Elgin’s stiff defense also held Lawton Ike to three points in the third stanza with a single three-point basket at the 6:33 mark that gave the Eagles the lead at 20-19. But Elgin tallied the next 14 points to give the Owls a 33-20 advantage heading into the final quarter.

In fact, Lawton Ike did not score in double digits for any quarter until the final eight minutes when the Eagles tallied 11 points. The Eagles connected on seven three-point buckets which accounted for 21 of their 33 points, but their post play was less effective as Elgin’s aggressive defense created turnovers and held Lawton Ike out of the lane.

Nettles was Elgin’s leading scorer with 15 points followed by Reed with 12.

“The entire team has been playing hard. I’m very happy with the way they’re playing right now,” Green said. “As far as Jaylen goes, he’s playing really well and super hard. He’s been distributing the ball really well.”

Elgin lost its first-round game at the Weatherford Classic to Guthrie, 57-45.